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After labour and fuel costs, tyres are one of the largest items in a truck fleet operator’s budget, representing a valuable asset that requires careful management, Bridgestone representatives recently told Tyres & Accessories.
The five-year plan for Toyo Tire & Rubber’s Nitto brand leading up to 2015 is to increase sales volume some 250 per cent from its current level of 6.75 million tyres per annum, an increase that will see the Nitto brand’s proportion of total Toyo sales grow from nine to 15 per cent. To achieve this, the tyre maker intends to boost sales in its established North American market plus introduce the brand into other regions, including Asia, South America and Oceania.
Following the initial announcement last week, Micheldever Tyre Services Ltd has confirmed the appointment of Angus Smith to its board in the position of commercial director, effective from January 2012. Smith joins Michelever with years of experience at Continental Tyre Group culminating with work in the role of sales director.
Earlier this year Avon Tyres launched a new top-end product to replace its ZZ3, a range that represented the Melksham-based tyre maker in the W and Y speed rated categories for the best part of a decade. This new tyre, the ZZ5, slots into the Avon performance hierarchy above the three-year old ZV5 and serves as both the brand’s flagship product and most dedicated performance offering. In October, Tyres & Accessories met the team behind the new tyre’s development and got to know their handiwork a little better.
Work on phase two of Hankook Tire’s Rácalmás plant in Hungary is now complete. The tyre maker began its project to expand the plant in September 2009 and produced its first ‘phase two’ tyre in November 2010; now the Rácalmás factory is gearing up to produce 12 million tyres per annum and boasts a workforce of 1,900.
Quoting figures from a survey conducted by online research firm One Poll, Manheim Auctions notes than less than five per cent of British motorists plan on purchasing winter tyres this year. Out of the 3,000 respondents to the August 2011 survey, 95.5 per cent said they are not planning to buy winter tyres despite last year’s hard winter.
As of 1 January, 2012, Makio “Mac” Ohashi will end his tenure as CEO and president of Bridgestone Europe NV/SA. He will be succeeded in this role by Franco Annunziato, who is now chief quality officer and senior vice-president – technology at Bridgestone Europe as well as managing director of Bridgestone Technical Center Europe S.p.A. After taking on Ohashi’s current duties, Annunziato will remain chief quality officer of Bridgestone Europe and managing director at the Technical Center Europe. Annunziato also serves as a vice-president and officer of Bridgestone Corporation.
After 10 years as sales director of Continental Tyres, Angus Smith has chosen to leave the organisation to pursue a new career and fresh challenges with Micheldever Tyre Services.Until a suitable successor is in place, managing director David Smith will take on the sales director responsibilities for the company’s car, van and 4×4 tyre sales in the UK and Ireland.
After more than 26 years serving the tyre breakdown business, ITDN staff continue to take pride in their reputation for reliability and service given to members and has announced the imminent launch of its “all new, completely revised live on-line system ‘ITDN Interactive’.”
ITDN operates a complete tyre breakdown network for the independent tyre dealer. Network representatives report that the network’s continuing goal is to ensure that members keep control of their own business, whilst benefiting from the back-up of a 600 plus strong team of independent dealers behind them.
Campaigning for the next US presidential election is underway, and even candidates’ positions on tyre-related issues are being held up to the light for further examination. One candidate to find this out is Republican hopeful Mitt Romney, who has been criticised by United Steelworkers (USW) International president Leo W. Gerard over inconguencies between current campaign claims and his previous position on Chinese tyre tariffs.
India’s Consumer Affairs minister, K V Thomas, states his ministry has begun looking into complaints made about poor quality ISO certified tyres. Speaking to The Economic Times, Thomas shared that “some tyre companies, who have ISO certification, are not adhering to the quality standards. We have received complaints about poor quality tyres. We are seriously looking into them."
The shuttered Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. tyre plant in Albany, Georgia, has been sold to an Illinois developer, according to Tire Review. No details of how much was paid have yet been released.
This season’s rookie tyre manufacturer in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), DMACK tyres, face a stern challenge at next weekend’s Rally de Espana – the 12th and penultimate round of this year’s series. The mixed-surface round delivers an extra challenge for competitors and teams who must transform rally cars from gravel to asphalt specification during the event. But it’s also a huge test for tyre manufacturers. Not only will they have to cope with the normal rigours of a world rally but, on day one, gravel tyres will have to perform on both gravel and asphalt mixed-surface stages.
AlloyGator, a patented alloy wheel protection system, has been launched with the aim of providing car owners with unrivalled protection against scuffs, scratches and other wheel damage. AlloyGator is an affordable solution in keeping alloy wheels looking better for longer for consumers and an opportunity to up-sell for tyre dealers.
Continental has won the 2011 Auto Express winter tyre test, published this week (12 October). A parallel test in Auto Express’s high performance sister publication Evo awarded Continental top marks. In both titles, Continental's ContiWinterContact TS830P 91 H took the top spot in this year’s winter tyre awards.
Including a Continental summer tyre, which was used as a reference point, and a Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D that was curiously described as a “pre-production” product and was not rated, Auto Express tested 10 tyres. For reasons described above 8 were given ratings. Six were winter tyres, three all season and one summer. All were H – V rated 225/45 R17 sized products.
Just 0.7 per cent behind Continental’s winning score (100), second place was taken by Goodyear’s UltraGrip Performance 94 V. While no official mark was given, Auto Express explained that the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D would have come third if it was not a “pre-production” model. As it happens Pirelli’s Sottozero Winter 240 Serie II took third place with a score of 98.9. Michelin’s Alpin 4 94V came fourth and scored 98.7.
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